Lecture

Hydropower: Advantages, Classification, and Future

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Description

This lecture covers the advantages of hydropower in Switzerland, the criteria for classifying hydroelectric installations, the unique role and future contribution of Swiss hydropower in the Alpine region and Europe, as well as the challenges and future prospects for Swiss hydropower. It discusses the renewable nature of hydropower, its efficiency, contribution to the economy, flood protection, and its role as a 'battery' for energy storage. The classification criteria include layout, head height, water usage, and turbine type. The lecture also highlights the current challenges faced by Swiss hydropower due to low electricity prices in Europe and market distortions favoring other renewable energies.

In MOOC

SES Swiss-Energyscope

Switzerland, like many other countries, is revising its energy strategy with a view to a transition towards a more rational use of energy, a more dynamic development of renewable energies and a progressive exit from nuclear energy. In a participatory democracy, such a process can only be based on a good understanding of the basic concepts and the issues related to technological and political choices. This course, which is open to everyone, is aimed at all citizens who wish to gain a better understanding in

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Related concepts (32)

Europe

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

Energy storage

Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in multiple forms including radiation, chemical, gravitational potential, electrical potential, electricity, elevated temperature, latent heat and kinetic. Energy storage involves converting energy from forms that are difficult to store to more conveniently or economically storable forms.

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The region stretches from the Ural Mountains in the east to the borders of Poland and Romania. Most definitions include the countries of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine while less restrictive definitions also include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

Western Europe

Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean world, the Roman Empire (Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire), and medieval "Christendom" (Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity). Beginning with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, roughly from the 15th century, the concept of Europe as "the West" slowly became distinguished from and eventually replaced the dominant use of "Christendom" as the preferred endonym within the region.

Grid energy storage

Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexpensive (especially from intermittent power sources such as renewable electricity from wind power, tidal power and solar power) or when demand is low, and later returned to the grid when demand is high, and electricity prices tend to be higher.

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